Aerial-ladder truck.



R. J. VOELKER. AERIAL LADDER TRUCK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1913-Patented June 15, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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R. J. VOELKER. AERIAL LADD ER TRUCK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, I913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

{SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0.. PHOMLITHOA. WASHINGTON D. C.

RICHARD J. VOELKER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AERIAL-LADDER TRUCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed June 30, 1913. Serial No. 776,568.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD J. VoELKnR, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and use I ful Improvements in Aerial-LadderTrucks,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to motor-driven aerial laddertrucks, and provides means whereby the main and fly ladders can beelevated either by hand or motor power.

' Another object is to provide improved means whereby the fly ladder canbe raised by hand or motor power independently of the main ladder.

A further object is to provide means whereby the ladders can be turnedand positioned during the ladder elevating operation.

()ther and further objects will appear in the specification and bespecifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings exemplifying the invention, and in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the forward portion of atruck, adjacent the ladder base, showing the ladder elevating gearing.Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on theline IIIIII,

. Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings: 1 designates the side members of the truckwhich constitute the main frame. Mounted in between said side members ata point therebelow is a motor 2. Mounted on said sidemembers adjacenttheir forward ends is a base plate 3 on which is turnably mounted aturntable 4. Mounted on the turntable 4 are a pair of frames 5 in whichis loosely mounted a horizontal shaft 6. Mounted on said shaft betweensaid frames is the main ladder 7. Se curely mounted on said shaft,centrally of the side members 8 of said main ladder, is a segmental ear9. The side members 8 of said ladders are preferably constructed ofchannel members so the side members 10 of the fly ladder 11 can besuitably mounted in said side members 8. Mounted in the center of theturntable 4, and in a central bearing 12, is a bevel gear 13. Mounted onthe end of a vertical hollow shaft 14 secured to the under side of thehub of said bevel gear 13 is a clutch member 15. Loosely mounted on saidhollow shaft 14, adjacent said clutch member 1.5., is a gear 16, saidheld against lateral displacement on'said gear having formed on one sidethereof a clutch 17. Meshing with the gear 16 is a gear 18 securelymounted to a stub shaft 19, said stub shaft being held in bearings 20.Secured to' said stub shaft 19, below said gear 18, is a worm gear 21meshing with a worm 22 mounted on the horizontal shaft 23. Secured tothe under side of the gear 16 is a shift member 24.

Securely mounted to the shaft 14, below the gear 16, is a clutch member25 which is adapted to be engaged by a clutch 26 formed on one side of agear 27, said gear being loosely mounted on said shaft 14. Engaging saidgear 27 is a shifting member 28. Meshing with said gear 27 is a gear 29securely mounted to the stub shaft 30, which shaft is held in bearingmembers 31. Meshing with the gear 29 is a pinion 32 that is mounted onthe stub shaft 33. Said pinion 32 meshes with the gear 68 mounted on thestub shaft 69, said stub shafts 32 and 69 being supported in the bearingmembers 31.

Securely mounted to the lower end of the stub shaft 69 is a bevel gear70, said bevel gear meshing with a pair of bevel gears 71 and 72. Saidbevel gears 71 and 72 are oppositely disposed from each other and areloosely mounted on the horizontal shaft 34, said shaft being held inbearings 35 which are suspended from the side members 1. Said bevelgears 71 and 72 are held against lateral displacement on said shaft 34by pins 73 which are mounted in the hubs of said gears 71 and 72 andengage annular grooves 74 formed in said shaft 34. Slidably mounted onthe shaft 34 between the bevel gears 71 and 72 is a clutch member 75having clutch teeth 76 and 77 formed thereon. Said clutch member teeth 76 are adapted to engage clutch teeth 78 formed on the bevel gear 71,

and said clutch teeth 77 are adapted to engage with the clutch teeth 79formed on the bevel gear 72 when said clutch member 7 5 is shifted bymanipulating the shifting member 80.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 34 is a drum 36, said drum adapted to beshifted laterally on said 'shaftby the shifting member 37. Formed on oneside of said drum is a clutch 38, and on the opposite side is a clutch39. Securely mounted to the shaft 34, adjacent the clutch 39, is aclutch member 40. Loosely mounted on the shaft 34, adjacent the clutch30 of the drum 36, is a worm gear 41 which shaft by a pin 42 engaging agroove 43, which groove is formed in said shaft 34. Formed on one end ofsaid worm gear 41 is a clutch 44 which is adapted to be engaged by theclutch 38. Meshing with said worm gear 41 is a worm 45 mounted on theshaft 46.

Slidably mounted on one end of the shaft 34 is a bevel friction 47having a hub 48. Carried by said hub is a shifting member 49... Aliningwith the horizontal shaft 34 is a motor shaft 50, said motor shafthaving mounted thereon a motor fly wheel 51. Formed in said fly wheel isa concave face 52 which is adapted to be engaged by the bevel friction47. Secured to one end of the main'ladder 7 is a cross bar 53. Mounted Ycentrally thereof is a groove pulley 54 which is mounted on the crossbars 53.

Secured to one of the rungs of the fly ladder 11 is a cable 56, saidcable extending rearwardly and passing around and engaging a pulley 54,then returning toward the end of the main ladder 7, passing under aroller 57 mounted on one of the rungs 55. Said cableris then broughtover a series of rollers 58 mounted in the hub 59 of the segmental gear9. Said cable passes downwardly and engages a roller 60, then throughthe hollow shaft 14 to the drum 36 to which it is secured at its endopposite to the end that is secured to one of the rungs 55. Meshing withthe bevel gear 13 is its matching gear 61 which is securely mounted tothe horizontal shaft 62. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the segmentalgear 9 has formed therein a circumferential slot 63 forming tworows ofteeth 64 on said segment. Securely mounted to said shaft 62 is a doublefaced pinion 65, said pinion being in mesh with the teeth 64.

In the operation of this improved device, when all the operative partsare at rest, they are in the positions shown in the drawings. If it isdesired to raise the ladders by motor power, the shifting member 49 isengaged, and the bevel friction 47 is engaged against the concavesurface 52 of the fly wheel 51. This operation will transmit motion tothe shaft 34. Then the clutch member 75 is shifted by manipulating theshifting member 80 until the clutch teeth 76 engage the clutch teeth 78of the bevel gear 71. As said clutch member 75 is turnable with theshaft 34, power will be transmitted to the bevel gear and gear 68mounted on the stub shaft 69, and to the pinion 32which is in mesh withthe gear 29. The shifting member 28 of the gear 27 is then engaged, saidgear being shifted upwardly on the shaft 14 until the clutch 26 engagesthe clutch member 25. This clutch member 25 being securely mounted tothe shaft 14 will actuate the shaft 62 through the bevel gears 13 and61. Andthe spur gear 65 mounted on said shaft 62 will aotu ate thesegmental gear 9. As this segmental gear 9 is secured to the main ladder7, said main ladder and fly ladder 11 will be elevated. After saidladders have been elevated to their desired positions, the clutch 26 isthrown out of mesh with the clutch member 25 by actuation of theshifting member 28. If it is then necessary to elevate the fly ladder,the drum 36 mounted on the shaft 34, is shifted by manipulation of theshifting member 37 until the clutch 39 engages the clutch member 40.Then said drum 36 will be revolved and the cable 56 will be wound aroundsaid drum, thus elevating said fly ladder. lVhen the fly ladder has beenraised to the desired height, the clutch 39 is shifted from engagementwith the clutch member 40 and the pawl 66 carried by said fly ladderbeing spring-actuated will engage against one of the rungs 67 of themain ladder, thus holding said fly ladder in position. When it isdesired to lower the ladder, it is preferable to first lower the flyladder before the main ladder has been lowered so the fly ladder willslide down into its normal position by gravity. This is done byreleasing the rung clutch 66 of said fly ladder. As the cable drum 36 isloosely mounted on the shaft 34, the lowering of said fly ladder willunwind the cable from said drum. In order to lower the main ladder afterthe fly ladder has been lowered and telescoped therein, the clutchmember is shifted toward the bevel gear 72 until the clutch teeth 77 and74 of said clutch member and gear 72 engage. This will give the bevelgear 7 O, and its parts geared to the gear 27, a reverse motion. Theshifting member 28 is then manipulated until the clutch teeth 26 engagethe teeth of the clutch member 25 which is mounted. on the hollow shaft14. A reverse motion will then be transferred to the segment 9 of themain ladder 7. In order to elevate the ladders by hand power, the handle81, which is mounted on one end of the worm shaft 23, is manipulated andmotion is transmitted to the worm gear 21 from the worm 22, and to thegear 18 and gear 16, which is in mesh with said gear 18. The shiftingmember 24 is manipulated and the clutch teeth 17 of said gear 16 willmesh with" the teeth of the clutch member 15, which clutch member 15 ismounted to the hub of the bevel gear 13. This elevating motion will beapplied to the mechanism and the ladders will be elevated. The clutchteeth 17 are then shifted out of mesh with the clutch member 15. Theshifting member 37 of the drum 36 is manipulated to one side until theclutch teeth 38 of said drum mesh with the teeth 44 of the worm gear 41.Then the handle 83 mounted on one end of the worm shaft 46 is manipulated, and the worm 45 mounted on said shaft 46 will actuate the wormgear 41, the drum 36 will be turned, and the cable of the fly ladderwill be wound on said drum until the fly ladder has attained the desiredheight. The position of the hollow shaft 14: relative to the drum 36 andshaft 62 allows freedom of movement to the turntable 4., and at the sametime does not hamper the working of the cable 56 which is positioned insaid hollow shaft and between the teeth of the double pinion 65 and theslot 63 of the segmental gear 9.

,What I claim is:

1. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder having a segmental gearsecured to one end, a pinion mounted on a horizontal shaft meshing withsaid segmental gear, a hollow shaft arranged at right angles to saidhorizontal shaft, gears operatably connecting said shafts to each other,a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a revolubly mounted drumlocated adjacent one end of said hollow shaft, and a cable secured tosaid drum and said fly ladder, said cable passing through said hollowshaft.

2. In an aerial ladder truck, a drum shaft, a main ladder mounted onsaid truck having a segmental gear secured to one end thereof, a pinionmounted on a horizontal shaft meshing with said segmental gear, a hollowshaft arranged at right angles to said horizontal shaft, gearing fromsaid drum shaft to said hollow shaft and from said hollow shaft to saidhorizontal shaft a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a drumloosely mounted on said drum shaft, a cable secured to said drum, andsaid fly ladder, said cable passing through said hollow shaft, and meansfor releasably securing said drum to said drum shaft.

3. In an aerial ladder truck, a turntable, a vertically arranged hollowshaft adapted to serve as a pivot to said turntable, a main laddermounted on said turntable, having a segmental gear secured to one endthereof,

a fly ladder carried by said main ladder, a revolubly mounted drum shaftlocated adjacent one end of said hollow shaft, gearing from said drumshaft to said hollow shaft, and gearing from said hollow shaft to saidsegmental gear, a drum mounted on said drum shaft, and a cable passingthrough said hollow shaft secured to said drum and said fly ladder.

4. In an aerial ladder truck, a turntable, a frame mounted on saidtable, a horizontally arranged shaft, mounted on said frame, a mainladder having one end mounted on said shaft, a segmental gear secured tosaid shaft and said ladder, a pinion having two sets of teeth meshingwith said segmental gear, a shaft for said pinion, a fly ladder carriedby said main ladder, a hollow shaft located adjacent said pinion,gearing from said hollow shaft to said pinion shaft, a drum shaft havinga drum loosely mounted thereon, a cable secured to said drum and saidfly ladder adapted to pass between the sets of teeth of said pinion andthrough said hollow shaft, and means for intermittently securing saiddrum to said drum shaft.

5. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder and a fly ladder, a pair ofsegments for actuating said ladders, a pinion having two sets of teethmeshing with said segments, and a cable for elevating said fly ladderpassing between the sets of teeth of said pinion and said pair ofsegments.

6. In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder, a fly ladder slidablymounted to said main ladder, spaced segments for elevating and loweringsaid ladders, a pinion having two sets of teeth in mesh with saidsegments, a hollow shaft operatably connected to said pinion, and acable for actuating said fly ladder relative to said main ladder, saidcable passing between said spaced segments and said sets of teeth ofsaid pinion and through said hollow shaft.

7 In an aerial ladder truck, a main ladder, a fly ladder slidablymounted to said main ladder, spaced segments for elevating and loweringsaid ladders, a pinion having two sets of teeth in mesh with saidsegments, a hollow shaft operatably connected to said pinion, a cablefor actuating said fly ladder relative to said main ladder, said cablepassing between said spaced segments, said sets of teeth of said pinionand through said hollow shaft, and a revolubly mounted drum foroperating said cable.

RICHARD J. VOELKER.

Witnesses M. C. HAMMoN, H. G. FLETCHER.

G'opies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of' ratenta. Washington, I). G.

